NEVADA CITY, Calif. (CBS13) – A violent crash with a deer left a Nevada City resident with an antler stuck through his hand, but the driver says he just feels lucky the damage wasn’t worse.

Harlow Rothert and a friend were driving along Highway 49 when a deer darted into the roadway. Unable to stop in time, Rothert said he realized the impending collision could be lethal.

“I went through a flash, and I remember my mind just thinking, ‘This could be it. This could be the end,’” Rothert said.

The truck slammed into the deer at high speed, sending the animal antlers-first through a windshield.

“The horns came in through a big crack in the windshield,” Rothert said.

The antlers stabbed right through Rothert’s right hand, fracturing bones in his forearm. As the truck slowed to a stop, the antler broke off.

Rothert and his friend said they are both grateful to have survived the collision but feel bad the deer didn’t survive.

Rothert’s doctor says he will need to keep a cast on his right arm for four weeks, but Rothert says he hopes to have the cast off by Christmas.